Why All Possessions Are Burdens

We all want possessions: cars, clothes, jewellery, gadgets – even pets. No matter what we have, we always want more and nothing seems to douse our burning desire to buy, to own. I was driving through a local village the other afternoon with a girlfriend who told me something very wise that I wanted to pass on to you. It’s probably not something you’ve thought about before, I sure hadn’t. But the fact of the matter is – everything you buy is a burden.

That’s right ladies, I am about to tell you the negatives of shopping and no matter what you buy: a lipstick, a laptop – a lapdog in fact, it’s just something else to worry about. You are unlikely to think about the consequences of everything you own – even with something as small as a lipstick, there are a whole host of things for you to consider or worry about; whether it goes with your outfit, whether to carry it around with you and what if you lose it?!
Ok, so that’s quite an insignificant example but its true none the less. So what about the bigger things in life? The ones that we perhaps can’t afford outright and with finance comes even bigger burdens…

I always wanted a Volkswagen Beetle and instead of saving and buying it outright, I maxed out the remainder of my credit card and popped to the bank and asked them to fit the bill for the rest. So now I’m saddled with monthly repayments that eat into my salary. The worst part is since leaving my trusty Ford behind, I have had a new catalytic converter, new brakes, new starter motor and a new battery – that multiplied by the larger cost of tax, petrol and insurance for a bigger engine, I begin to wonder, is it really worth it?! The pleasure I now get from driving my VW Beetle is simply counteracted by the monthly repayments and upkeep of it.

So the moral of the story? Credit isn’t glamorous. Just because you get what you want right there and then, we often fail to see the bigger picture and fully understand the commitment we’re taking on when we buy something – on credit or not. If we live a simpler, less materialistic life, we’ll all benefit from an increase in our overall happiness and a decrease in our overall stress levels. No more worrying about checking our bank balances, dreading the next credit card statement or fitting the bill when things go wrong…

So when you’re about to snatch up that next impulse buy to show off to your girlfriends, think about this article and ask yourself if you really need something else in your life to worry about. If you can confidently and honestly answer “Yes”, then make that purchase and enjoy it, if not, think about how nice it will be to not have another thing to burden you – smile, and walk away.